In The End
by Jade Hunter
Summary: Episodes from Season 1 from three very different points of view. It's MZ slanted, if there is a pairing at all. Complete
1. Max - In the End

Title: In the End  
  
Author: Jade Hunter  
  
A.N: This is my first Dark Angel fic, so please be nice. I missed out on a lot of the key episodes, so please, don't flame me for getting some info wrong.  
  
Disclaimer: Regretfully, Dark Angel and all it's wonderful and not-so-wonderful charactors are not mine. I am making no money off of this, so please, don't sue.  
  
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There was something about him that got to me when I first met him. I don't know what it was, but it knocked me over flat on my ass long enough for him to take a good look at my secret, my barcode.  
  
I tried to tell myself that he was just some guy, that I could use him and lose him like the rest if I wanted to. After all, like Original Cindy says, men are chumps.  
  
As time went by, I had to admit, if only to myself, that Logan Cale was not your average guy. The something I noticed, I figured out what it was after the first few weeks.   
  
It was his need to help people.  
  
I mean, the way I figure, if I had parents who were loaded and left me all that dough, I'd kick up my feet and relax, riding the wave my folks made in this huge and lonely ocean called life.  
  
But he didn't.  
  
He doesn't. Instead, he tries and helps people. He's Eyes Only, "the only free voice left in the city." And he almost got his ass blown off on one of those gigs, trying to help a woman and her little girl. I can respect that. In fact, I do. That's why I helped get his KO'd ass outa that room.  
  
And as much as I hate to say, he's become very important to me. In just this short time, he went from someone interesting, to someone I was interested in. It just didn't make sense, but I liked him. A lot. Enough to refuse to get outta town when Hannah warned me.  
  
But I gotta get something off my chest.  
  
When Zack first came, and told me that we were getting out of Seattle, I didn't care about Logan Cale enough to think about staying. In fact, I was all for leaving, as long as it was with one of mine, my family.   
  
But then Zack made a comment about splitting up, and my hope just went 'splat'. I asked him to tell me where the others were; if he didn't want to be with me, maybe the others might. But he refused. So I refused. Logan didn't even come to mind until later that night, when I was riding out my frustrations on my bike.  
  
And then it hit me.  
  
If I liked Logan so much - and I did - why didn't I think about him till then?  
  
If I liked Logan so much, as much as I thought, then why didn't he come to mind when Zack asked me to split?  
  
After the whole fiasco with Brin, I got my answer.  
  
In the end, I would do _anything_ for my brothers, my sisters. Even let them go back to a place I _knew_ was a personification of what those religious people call Hell.  
  
And so, my questions were answered, and I was satisfied.  
  
Until Zack called for help, and Logan tried to stop me.  
  
My answer explained why I wanted to go, even with all the dangers, all the risks.  
  
My answer explained why I was willing to push past Logan to get to Zack.  
  
But it did not explain why I felt that white hot flash of indignation and rage when he blocked my way. Did not explain why my thoughts were along the line of, 'If miracle boy doesn't get outta my way, I'm gonna throw his scrawny ass right out that window!' Didn't explain why I felt like wrapping my fingers around his high-and-mighty neck and squeeze when he said Zack might've turned traitor.   
  
And it would never explain why I felt so sure that Zack wouldn't have turned. With the torture techniques Manticore has, it was a possibility. Even back then, Lydecker drilled into us that if there was a possibility that a team member was turned, we should kill them without hesitation. And yet, here was an exact situation, and I was convinced that Zack was not a traitor. I implied that Logan didn't know Zack, not as well as I did, which was true, but I didn't know Zack as well as I hinted. This Zack, however much he was like his old self, was not. Nine years passed, it had to have changed him; not even Zack would live in this world without getting some scars. I didn't know him very well, not this him, and yet I believed that Zack would never turn traitor. I _knew_ that he wouldn't.  
  
So I went.  
  
And, after the first initial greeting that went not so well, he did something I can't remember him ever doing before.  
  
He opened up.   
  
To me.  
  
I know I'm not the most sensitive gal in this messed up world, but I was touched that my big, tough CO, my unreachable big brother would actually open up to me, the smart-mouthed thang that I know I am. And when we asked me how I could possibly forget me, I was shocked. And a little pleased. Him and the others were the most important people in my life, and I was more than gratified to see that my feelings were mutual, well, at least in one person. And I felt something, like a fire, building up. It wasn't like when I'm in heat, no that fire builds in my stomach, and works it's way up and down my spine. This fire, it burned me from the inside, from where I knew my heart was. It was not unlike the tingle I got when I'm near Logan, but . . .well, Logan was a tingle, Zack was a full-blown fire.  
  
It was because he was my brother, in everything but blood. I cared for him more than I could ever care for Logan, because even though he knew my origins, even though he knew my deepest secret, Logan Cale, Mr. Eyes Only, did not know what it was like back there. He did not know my darker secrets. And as long as I held those memories back from him, Logan Cale could never be closer to me than Zack, Brin, Tinga, Jondy, Zane, Syl, Krit, and the others are.   
  
Never.  
  
When we - Zack, Logan, and I - went for Tinga, Logan was the first to argue. The place was crawling with Maticore guards; probably Lydecker was already there. He sprouted off some crap about not liking this, and about how this was a danger to our safety. I didn't care, because I knew that clench in Zack's jaw, I knew that stance, and I knew that look in his eyes. He was going to save Tinga, or die trying, because it was his fault. I knew what he was thinking.   
  
And if Zack, in his injured state, was going, I was going too. No way was I gonna let my CO up and go on a dangerous mission all on his own. Especially not when he was still healing.  
  
When we rescued Tinga, I had never felt so happy. Three of us were together, and we were kicking ass together, like it shoulda been from the start. It was child's play to take out what armed forces were meant of one X-5 since we were three X-5s. And, when it was over, and Zack was looking for a ride to jack, I realized that with Logan, I could never have that feeling I had when we were fighting, that feeling of completeness. And I felt sad.  
  
I considered leaving with them, Zack and Tinga, and my consideration only grew as Logan made that callous comment about all of us being thieves. What would he know? Rich boy who had everything handed to him could never know what it was like for us...gifted kids to suddenly step into a world where words such as friends, care, and love existed. He would never know the feeling of having to steal things because that's what you were good at and that was the easiest way to make cash, cause after the Pulse, there was a lot more people who forked over money for stuff, no questions asked.  
  
I expected Zack to start on me getting out of Seattle again, since Lydecker was hotter on my trail than ever. And maybe this time, I'd agree to go with him, even if it meant splitting up. But he assumed that I was staying, that I was too much 'not with Logan' to go with him and Tinga.  
  
And that stung.  
  
So I didn't go.  
  
But I felt regret as he and Tinga drove away, and even hanging with Logan didn't make me feel better, like it did the first time, like it did the second time. Not even Original Cindy got me outta that funk for at least four hours. Only a wild ride on my Ninja helped me calm down.  
  
Helped me straighten a few things out.  
  
I like Logan Cale, I really do, even though he irritates me like somethin' else mosta the time. He's considerate, he actually cares about the world, and he can cook like nothin' else. And you can all hear the 'but' coming here, right?  
  
But...  
  
In the end, he's not what's at the very top of my list. He may be very close to fourteen, after the eleven others who got out, after Jace (she's still one of us, and her baby's got my name printed on it), after Original Cindy (cause she's my homegirl), and after Kendra (even with her Mr. Multiples).  
  
In the end, the other X-5's are more important to me than anything.  
  
In the end, I'd give up anything and everything, including Logan Cale, to turn back the clock and have Zack ask me to come with him and Tinga.  
  
In the end, even amidst all the others, I think Zack and Jondy are the most important to me.  
  
Jondy, she stayed up at night with me in Manticore, because for some reason, we couldn't sleep. And she left when I fell through the ice, something I'm really glad she did, cause she got out.  
  
And Zack, cause I followed his orders as soon as I could understand the English language. Because he shoulders all the responsibility of all of us, and I know that it has to be tough. I think sometimes, even he forgets that he's still only twenty-one. Because he opened up to me. Because he's my reliable pillar of support even though I have no clue how he keeps track of me, my CO . . .my Zack.  
  
In the end, as much as I like him, Logan Cale does not matter.  
  
In the end, Zack does.  
  
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~~~~~Jade Hunter~~~~~ 


	2. Zack - Nothing Helps

Title: Nothing Helps  
  
Author: Jade Hunter  
  
A.N: Well, I wasn't exactly planning a sequel, but, here it is. Forgive me if it stinks.  
  
Disclaimer: None of the Dark Angel charactors belong to me, not even the ones I mention in this story. This is purely for fun, and I am not making any money off of this.  
  
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It's hard not to notice that she likes him. You can see it in the way that she talks to him, not her words, but her tone. She's comfortable in his penthouse, and I know she spent a lot of time there.   
  
Her scent was everywhere.  
  
Well, not quite everywhere. It sort of fades away before it gets to the rooms in the back, the guestrooms and _his_ room. Which is good to know. I don't know why, but it is.  
  
I know I shouldn't feel this way. It's uncomfortable for me, feeling this for someone I considered my sister back before I checked up on her for the first time. I mean, before I found those clippings, before I knew I had a lead on her, before I saw her in Jam Pony for the first time in nine years, I was fine. Now, most of my thoughts are of her; everytime I check my messages I start to panic, thinking maybe it's Max, and she's in trouble. Even though that's impossible, because I didn't give her the number, and I discontinued the old one. I did that partly because of her liability, and partly because of her effect on me.  
  
But in a different way, the feeling is a blessing. It tells me that I _have_ feelings, that I'm not entirely the soldier I was going to be had I stayed in Manitcore. It makes me acknowledge that I do have a heart at the worst of times, and the times where everything is a blur. Sometimes, I think I can't take the responsibility of looking over twelve people, I think I can't handle bailing them when needed and giving them a new start if they screw up. At those times, I feel _that_ feeling again, and I remember my duties as their CO, I remember my duties as their older brother, and most importantly, I remember that they count on me to help them when help is needed.  
  
I tried to ignore the feeling at first, especially because it wasn't healthy, not for us to survive in this world. But it was harder than I thought. When we escaped from Lydecker and his men the first time and I told her we would leave Seattle and split up, that was the hardest thing I had to say. It had never been a problem with any of the others, but with her, with Max, splitting up suddenly seemed way up there with the world gaining enough balance to be as it was before the Pulse. But I knew it had to be done, and my job as CO came first and foremost. Even then, it hit me hard when she refused to leave. The closest I could tell her of my developing feelings for her was telling her that she had grown up all right. As stupid as it may seem, soldiers were never meant to share feelings with others.  
  
After I left Seattle, I went on a trip across the globe, checking up on the others and just driving around. I stayed a few days with all of them, which I knew they thought was unusual, because the longest I ever checked up on them was a day or two. It was a distraction from Max, making small talk about their lives since the last time I heard, and trying to bury my feelings by jumbling up my thoughts with irrelevant information.  
  
It didn't help.  
  
Our brains, our minds, were meant to process all kinds of different information at the same time. They were created so that every little detail was memorized. We literally had photographic memories. That, for the first time, was a hindrance rather than an advantage. I spent the next weeks being driven crazy with images of her, happy, sad, pissed off, insulting me, and all of it was enough to make me head in the general direction of Seattle. As I neared the city, I kept wondering how I was going to explain the fact that I was in town again.   
  
Then Brin called.  
  
I never expected to be ambushed by two trucks brimming with armed men and I sure as hell never expected Brin to be captured.  
  
A testament of how much Max had distracted me from my duties.  
  
Before, I would have crawled into hiding and waited until my wounds were healed. But I couldn't seem to give up this opportunity to see Max again, no matter how I tried to convince myself that it was tactically unwise. So I went to see her, and found out about Logan Cale. A 'friend'. As soon as I woke up, I knew, knew that she had been in that apartment a hundred times before. I could smell it. One of the perks of having animal DNA.  
  
I didn't understand why she liked him. Still don't. He's weak, and can hardly take care of himself, much less her. I didn't like him. I didn't like the way he was so comfortable in her presence, I didn't like that he knew about us, and I especially hated the way he spoke in that condescending tone of voice. Still don't. If it weren't for all his money, he never would have survived in this world. I could see that after a few minutes with him. It was logical that she saw it too. Then why did she stay with him? Why did she protect him? Why did she put her life on the line doing little jobs for him? It soon occurred to me that she might feel for him what I felt for her.   
  
And I couldn't help but hate him more.  
  
She wanted to rescue Brin. If it had been anyone else, I would have ordered him or her to back down. But it wasn't anyone else. It was Max. Even when she grabbed Lydecker without warning, I didn't yell at her like I would with everyone else. If it had been Ben, Tinga, Andy, or even Elyssa who had done what she did, I would have beat them down with scathing words with no hesitation. Any CO would. But it was Max, and I did nothing more than ask her what she was doing, and why. It was as if suddenly, she was the CO, and I was the SIC. I thought that maybe she had been independent for so long that she forgot how to take orders. But that obviously wasn't it, because in the midst of battle, she followed my orders, and I was the CO again.  
  
I left again, and drove around with no real destination in mind. Wandered around, thinking on my life and checking up on the others through phone. I spent a lot of time trying to forget Max again, and to forget what I felt about her.  
  
First, I tried to distract myself with other women, blondes, red heads, but never brunettes.  
  
That didn't help. It just got me thinking about why I wasn't feeling happy.  
  
Then, I tried to swear off women.  
  
That didn't help either. Her image just came back stronger and clearer than ever.  
  
I also tried to imagine what would happen if she and Logan were to get together, like all my senses were implying.  
  
That absolutely had no effect but to make me hate him more.  
  
Which wasn't necessarily a _bad_ thing.  
  
A month or so had passed, when I felt a disturbing feeling in my gut, and I knew that Max was in trouble. I hightailed it back to Seattle as fast as my bike could go, even though there was no way to be certain.  
  
I'm glad I went, even if it eventually ended with me being tortured by my enemies in Manticore. I resisted as well as I could, but I'm not sure if Max could have. She's left her past behind her, and I'm not sure if she would have remembered those techniques they taught us. They almost got me with that last shot, though. I don't know how they thought to bring in a Max decoy. Maybe it was because Max was the only one Lydecker had spotted me with. In any case, it almost worked. Better than the psychoactives. I knew something was wrong though, the moment she started grilling me. Max was a bit headstrong, yes, but she would have known to get out of Manticore first. There was another factor, however, that made me realize that it hadn't been Max. With the decoy, I didn't get that feeling, the feeling of completeness, the feeling of absolute rightness. I didn't even try and delusion myself that I was over her; the only thing that had kept me alive at some points were the memories of Max.  
  
Later, as I watched Logan stream out that Eyes Only bulletin, I knew I should feel grateful to him for warning the others.  
  
But I didn't.  
  
Instead, I hated him more than ever, for saving the other X-5s from the danger that _I_ put them in. I hated him because he was walking now, a real, true miracle. He was still weak, but he was walking, and I knew that Max wouldn't leave, not then, not ever. I hated him, because all my predator instincts were screaming out that he was a male not of my pride, moving in on my territory.  
  
Too insignificant to challenge, yet too bold to ignore.  
  
As we went to rescue Tinga, I comforted myself with the fact that at least I could fight better than he ever could, even in my injured state. A whirlwind of emotions sped through my mind, but I focused on one task. Getting Tinga to safety. That was top priority now.   
  
I lifted up the hood of a car, and focused on hot-wiring it. I almost dropped the wires and went to deck Logan, however, when he made that comment of all of us being thieves. He was looking down on us, on our lives, because we lived by doing what he deemed was morally wrong, because we made our way through the world by stealing. Instead, I opted to shoot him a glare that could have combusted him, if looks could burn.   
  
As if cable hacks were legal.  
  
I got in the car when Tinga reported that there was enough gas to get us out of there. Since Tinga didn't know about Max's unique position, I assumed out loud that she wouldn't be coming, and prepared to drive off. When Tinga didn't take the hint at first, I barked at her not to bother. It was a direct order, and she crumpled. No matter what, I was the CO. To hide my pain, I gave a last warning to Max, and then drove off.  
  
As soon as I could, I disconnected my VoiceMail, and set up a new one. After we passed the Canadian border, it only took me a few days more to get a new life for Tinga, a fresh start. I made sure Tinga got settled down, and gave her my new contact number. She seemed confused but accepted it; she didn't know I did it to keep Max from contacting the others or me. If she had, she would have been angry, so I purposefully kept it from her.  
  
I'm back in the states now; I've been crossing that border so much, I'd be surprised if they don't know who I am. I have to hand out my new contact number . . .after tracking every last one of the X-5's down. It's a hard job, but they told me the area they were in, so it narrows the field down for me. And who knows? Maybe I'll get smart and forget about Max, or at least, my feelings for her.  
  
Yeah right.  
  
I've always been a fast learner, and this time's no exception. It's impossible to get over Max, believe me, I've tried.  
  
Nothing helps.  
  
Nothing.  
  
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~~~~~Jade Hunter~~~~~ 


	3. Logan - Love Hurts

Title: Love Hurts  
  
Author: Jade Hunter  
  
A.N: Okay, last in my ITE series, and this is a Logan piece. I tried to be nice to him throughout the series, because I know there are some M/Z shippers that like him, just not with Max. It you don't think I was nice to him, well, I tried to be as nice as I could.  
  
Disclaimer: Hate to admit it, but none of the charactors belong to me. I'm sorry if I shattered anyones dreams. I'm making no money in writing this, it is only for my writing and your reading pleasure.  
  
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Love can be one of the most wonderful experiences in a lifetime. You're lucky if you fall in love even once in your life. I'm lucky enough to have fallen in love twice.  
  
I remember when Val and I got engaged. We were so happy, even though I knew she drank once in a while, it didn't seem all that much of a problem for me. I was okay with it, I accepted it as a part of her; something that was a problem, but nothing I couldn't except. And I felt so happy, like I was floating away, or as if I was living out my life in a perfect dream. I believe I started writing poetry then.  
  
Like I said, love can be a wonderful thing.  
  
But love can hurt you too, more than any physical wound. It works away at your heart, eating you up from the inside. It can be a terrible thing to experience, this hurt that being in love causes, and I know, because I have felt it.  
  
I remember with not an abundant amount of fondness the trouble that started when I first realized just how deep Val's love for alcohol went. I tried to be patient, tried to accept her for who she was, including her faults. I succeeded, and we lived in peace, if not happily. But then the accidents began. I would come home, and suddenly find police, or fire fighters swarming my penthouse. That normally led to me spending a chuck of money to replace my burnt or destroyed furniture, and soon, I began to find myself growing impatient with Val, and I knew that I was experiencing that hurt when I began to feel empty, and the pages of my poetry book had more blank pages than poems about Val.  
  
Before I knew it, I was divorced, and Val was out of my life, not without a lot of struggle from her.  
  
I was alone for a long time, and my heart was healing, slowly, but still healing. Then, I met Max, and I knew, even at the beginning, that she would be an important part of my life.  
  
Of course, I wasn't sure she felt the same way, since I was the one who was pointing the shotgun at her.  
  
As time passed, and we spent more and more civil time with each other, I knew that I was in that beautiful zone of love again. It seemed that she felt the same way, and I was content again, despite my worthless legs.  
  
But like I said, love can hurt.  
  
I think it all began the first time she came to my penthouse, almost desolate to a degree that panicked me. When she stopped snapping at me, she explained that she had, _finally_, met up with her big brother, Zack. I immediately felt my heart contract as I waited to hear the words, "I'm leaving." She didn't say that, much to my relief, but she didn't say much at all, only that he had left.  
  
I suppose that should have been my first hint.  
  
Things looked a bit out of perspective for me when, out of the blue, Max sauntered in with a massive guy slung over her shoulder, a reminder of her super natural origins. He was unconscious, and wounded, but was healing with a speed I grew envious of. It all made sense when she explained that it was her brother, Zack.  
  
I had more to be envious of than his healing, as it became apparent that Max cared deeply for this guy, even if she hadn't seen him in about a decade. She flitted around, made sure he was comfortable, and checked his wounds every five minutes. Although I had heard Max call him her brother many times, I knew that it was more of a spiritual thing, a bond created from hard times, that it did not mean that they were related. It was easy to see the difference.  
  
She was small and dark, whereas he was big and light.  
  
The worries began as soon as he woke up. He was tense, even I could see, until Max reassured him. He didn't like that I knew who they really were, even I could tell, but he didn't say anything. It seemed that although a decade had passed, their trust in each other was still absolute.   
  
That wasn't what bothered me, however.  
  
What bothered me, still bothers me, was the way he looked at her, the way he looks at her even now. Almost reverently. Like she was the most important thing in his life, and if she were gone, the light in his life would be gone. Like she was fragile, made of glass, instead of the animal DNA that made up both of their beings, shaping their minds and bodies into that of predators.  
  
And I knew then that he didn't feel for her as a brother should.  
  
It bothered me as much as it did, I think, because of one thing. My legs. To be more specific, I could not use my legs. I had a weakness. What was worse, a weakness everyone could see as soon as they glanced at me. As I looked at him, I could not find a single weakness, even as hurt as he had been, I was sure that he could have killed me in nine different ways before I even got to poke one of the already yellowing bruises.  
  
They got into an argument about whether or not they should rescue, or attempt to rescue another Manticore sibling, and all I could do was listen until I saw that neither of them was backing down. I sided with Max, and was rewarded with an agreement from Max, and a dark glare from Zack. The way he barked at me was surprising, and I could see the anger and hate smoldering in his eyes.  
  
So, he knew that I loved Max. And he didn't like it one bit.  
  
I wasn't thinking of the danger he could become when I felt the rush of smugness, and when I snapped back at him. All I could think of was that he was jealous, of Max and I, and that meant there was something to be jealous of.  
  
That thought did not offer me any comfort as I reported the information I had gathered on Lydecker, and listened to both of them offer up sarcastic retorts. They even shared the same sense of humor. As if having the same origins, the same nightmarish past, the same hatred for Lydecker, the same brothers and sisters, and the same abilities weren't enough.  
  
And what did I have in common with Max?   
  
Not much.  
  
Later, after the entire fiasco with Brin, and after Max had told me everything that had happened, she asked for my opinion. I answered her as best I could, but was distracted by another question which I was burning to ask, and which I did ask just a second after. About Zack. She answered in a flippant tone, but I could tell that she was hurt, a lot, and none of it was because he had gone with Lydecker's car.  
  
We had a week or so of peace, but were interrupted by Lydecker posting those wanted posters. I was oh-so-kindly informed of that by the untimely arrival of the killer himself, Zack. We rescued Max from her trap, and I drove them to my cabin, dreading the idea of leaving them alone together, but willing to do so for the sake of her safety.  
  
And she kissed me.  
  
I was flying again, in that wonderful dream of love, despite the pains in my back. She had kissed me, and that was more important.   
  
The dream didn't phase me; I had millions of those before. What really shocked me, was that Zack had given himself up to protect Max. I felt bitter as I thought about the sacrifice he had made in order to save Max. I wasn't sure if I could have done the same. It was obvious that Max was touched, and sad, and angry, all at the same time. I got up the courage to tell her about Zack's real feelings for her, unsure if it made a difference. She looked at me strangely, and then headed out.  
  
My heart sank.  
  
In that moment, I had seen something in her eyes, an interest of sorts, so small, that she probably did not notice it. But I did, and I knew what caused it. Deep down, she was interested in Zack, and not just in the sisterly way. She was attracted to him, and was relieved that the attraction was mutual.  
  
The pain, the hurt of the love came back, for the second time in my life, stronger than ever before.  
  
It faded away in time, as all wounds do, but still, a part of it lingered. Most of the pain retreated when I regained the use of my legs, due to Max's blood. I was confident that now that I could at least walk, I stood a chance against Zack. God knew that I wasn't going to give her up without a fight. Then, it didn't look like there was going to be any fight; Zack was in Manticore.   
  
But I knew that nothing would keep him away from Max. I had seen it in his eyes when he had stalked into my cabin, keys in hand. And I knew that he would be back, one day.  
  
I had expected him to come sneaking in the window, smiling smugly, arms crossed. I expected him to suddenly be there, sitting on my couch, smirking. I expected him to grin triumphantly at me as he and Max walked in, talking about the old days and how the others were doing.  
  
I didn't expect him to call Max for help, nor for him to call Max at _my_ place for help.  
  
I tried to stop her from going, knowing that it was a dangerous place. It was nothing against Zack; I actually felt pity for the guy when I realized what torture they must have put him through for him to be so beaten up that he had to risk calling her. It was just that there was little chance of her actually making it alive out of the place when guards were crawling around and in the perimeter like ants on an anthill.  
  
It was then that the pain had a chance to rear its ugly head.  
  
She was angry with me for trying to get in the way of saving Zack. I could see that clearly in her eyes. It wasn't the anger that normally consumed her when we disagreed, no, she was positively _livid_. I had never seen her so angry, not even when she talked about Lydecker. I never thought that she would ever get that angry, not with me, but she did, because of Zack, and enough to threaten me. I realized the moment that I looked into her eyes that I knew she would go through anyone and anything, including me, to save Zack.  
  
And I felt the emptiness begin to set in.  
  
She came back with Zack, more hurt than I had ever seen him. He looked like he had gone through six levels of hell and then some. Even beaten up, he managed the commanding air that always surrounded him, and he carried himself with the pride and confidence that only a soldier has.  
  
That I didn't, don't, have.  
  
He was having trouble remembering where the others were, that surprised me. He had made himself forget to protect them, but now had to try and remember for the exact same reason. How he had remembered Max's numbers and habits were beyond me. I almost wanted to let him suffer, but changed my mind almost as fast as the thought had come to my mind when I saw the anguish on Max's face. It was tearing her apart that her family might be in danger, and if there was something I could do to help her, I would.  
  
I suppose I expected gratitude, a little less of the intense glares that Zack had always shot me, or at least a nod, but none were forthcoming from the tall, blonde commander. In fact, his glare had, if possible, increased. That glare was the first thing he directed at me when he hung up the phone from checking on who had called in, and it was the last thing he directed at me as he and Max left the car to rescue their sister Tinga.  
  
Together.   
  
In a way she and I could never be.  
  
He and Tinga chose a car to steal as Max and I looked on. I was disgusted at how easily they could take from a person and not think a second thought about it. I watched with Max as Zack lifted up the hood and began to hot-wire the engine. The remarks about them all being thieves flew out of my mouth as I thought of how I would feel if someone had stolen my car. I wasn't very surprised by the intense glare of hatred Zack shot me, but I was surprised when Max shifted a bit, enough for me to see the scowl forming on her face. She hadn't liked the way I had said that.  
  
No wonder, she was a thief herself. Good going, Cale.  
  
She had this strange look on her face, a mixture of longing and indecision as she watched Tinga and Zack get in the car.  
  
God, I had thought. Was she going to go with them?  
  
Zack didn't make that much of an effort to get Max to join him, which surprised me. Tinga protested, but stopped when he practically growled at her. She immediately ceased much to my surprise. I hadn't realized how much the other X-5s still thought of Zack as their commander. I snuck a look at Max, only to look away as her expression melted into one of hurt, anger, and acceptance. As she and Tinga said goodbye and we watched them drive off, I felt saddened, more empty than ever, although Max was here.  
  
The truth is, she's beginning to realize her feelings for Zack.   
  
And when she sees the truth, she'll leave to find him, or go with him if he comes back.   
  
There's no way to pretend that I don't realize how much she really loves him, even if she hasn't realized it yet.  
  
But I can't help but feel selfish, and want her to remain here, with me.  
  
If only to fill that emptiness that the hurt of love can bring, has brought to me.  
  
Because the truth is, she loves him.  
  
And the truth hurts.  
  
So does love.  
  
#################################################################  
  
~~~~~Jade Hunter~~~~~ 


End file.
